Though one good deed is unlikely to reverse views that some hard-line critics have about Dan Gillbert's overall impact on Detroit, his role in attracting a wireless car plant to this city is a backstage drama worth noting.
Nolan Finley, a Gilbert admirer, has details in a Detroit News column showing how "rebuilding Detroit doesn't happen easily:"
Detroit got in the race in January only after Dan Gilbert read a story about Waymo receiving tax credits from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. to build a plant in Metro Detroit.
Gilbert sent an email to Waymo CEO John Krafcik, who he had met at the Detroit auto show two years ago, offering help in finding a site in the city. Krafcik told him he was ready to ink a lease for property in Wixom, near where the company had a testing facility.
Gilbert asked him to delay for a week, assuring him he had the perfect spot for Waymo in Detroit. It was a bluff. . . .
Gilbert's Bedrock team scramnbled. . . . And like magic, they stumbled into the ideal building. Before the week was out, they'd convinced the company to look at the site. A deal soon followed, and this week Waymo announced it is bringing a $14-million investment and up to 400 jobs to the city.
Check out the fuller saga, because our summary lacks key twists and turns -- and what Finley calls "the kicker" about what's in it for Bedrock, theoretically.